


Favorite Patient

by brightlikeloulou



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, First Meetings, Hospitals, Injury, M/M, Nurse!Daryl, Nurse/Patient, Patient!Paul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 17:39:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18393197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlikeloulou/pseuds/brightlikeloulou
Summary: Daryl finds his favorite patient.





	Favorite Patient

**Author's Note:**

> Random idea that came out of nowhere...

Daryl looked at the clipboard in his hand as he walked down one of the many hospital halls to the recovering patient that he had just been assigned. The clipboard told him that the man had just come out of surgery for a stab wound to his stomach. One of Daryl's fellow nurses told him that the man had been injured in a street fight.

His anesthesia should be wearing off soon and he'd wake up, probably confused and in pain.

Daryl reached the recovering room a few moments later and opened the door. The patient, Paul Rovia, his clipboard told him, laid unconscious in the small hospital bed, the covers of the bed pulled up to his chest. Daryl was taken back by how handsome the unconscious man was; his long hair was splayed out on the pillow beneath his head, and he had a thick beard that covered his jaw and part of his cheeks.

Daryl moved to check the IV and made sure it was okay, and to see what fluids were already being pumped. His heart rate was displayed on the small monitor from the electrodes connected to his chest, and Daryl observed it for a few moments and wrote it down on his clipboard.

Daryl was still looking at his blood pressure when he heard a small groan, and he looked down at the bed to see that Paul had his eyes open. His brows were furrowed, and he blinked a couple of times before attempting to lift his head, he let out another groan and Daryl could see the fear and confusion

Daryl stepped over to him, and carefully placed a hand on his forearm. The man's hazy eyes snapped to him, and Daryl was met with piercing blue-green eyes.

"Hey, relax man," Daryl said, "You're in the hospital, you've just come out of surgery," he explained, keeping his voice soothing and relaxing.

The man swallowed thickly, and nodded slightly, sucking in a deep breath, "Hurts," he whispered.

Daryl nodded, "I know, I just need you to answer some questions and then I'll get some more pain meds for you," He explained, "Can you do that for me?" he looked down at the clipboard in his hand to make sure that Paul got the answers right.

Paul nodded and licked at his lips, "Yeah,"

Daryl smiled at him, "Great. Can you tell me your name?" he asked.

"Paul Rovia," he replied weakly.

"Good job," Daryl said, "How old are you, and when's your birthday?"

"I'm thirty-eight… my birthday was," he trailed off confused, "I was at the bar for it," he said.

Daryl nodded, his clipboard did read that Paul's birthday was the day previous. Daryl pitied that the man had been in such a severe accident on his birthday.

"That's right, do you remember anything about being at the bar?" he asked.

Paul went quiet as he thought for a moment, attempting to lift his hand and then dropping it back down onto the sheets. "I was drinking with some friends… and I left at around three I think," he replied weakly.

Daryl nodded. Paul had arrived at the hospital via ambulance at half past three am and was immediately sent into emergency surgery. The surgery took several hours, and Paul's heart stopped once according to the report, but he was able to be resuscitated. It was now around half eight, and it was a good sign that Paul was awake and mostly alert.

"Do you remember anything after you left the bar?" Daryl asked, and Paul shook his head. He had a wince on his face and let out another quiet groan, "Okay, that's alright. Your memory will probably come back in a couple of hours or over the next couple of days. I'm going to go and get you some stronger pain killers, and then you need to get more rest,"

Paul nodded drowsily, so Daryl carefully petted his thigh foot and then headed out of the room.

 

* * *

 

"Daryl,"

He turned around at the sound of his name, and then smiled when he found Enid, the hospital's newest and youngest nurse approaching him. He'd taken her under his wing and was already quite fond of her.

"Everything okay?" he asked her, smoothing his hands down his scrubs.

She nodded, "Paul Rovia is awake again, has been for about an hour. His doctor has already been in and checked him over, says that everything looks okay. The police have also gone in to inform him of what happened, but Mr. Rovia isn't to give them a statement until at least tomorrow," she explained.

Daryl nodded in understanding, realizing that Enid must have checked up on Paul while he was on his lunch break. It was Paul's second day in the hospital, on his first day, after Daryl had just seen him, Paul slept on and off almost the entire day. Paul had been moved out of recovery early that morning, and Daryl checked on the charming man several times throughout the day. He'd been relieved to see that Paul was also getting visitors, to him, there was nothing sadder than a patient never getting a visitor during their stay.

"Good to hear he's already doing good. It was up and down during surgery," Daryl said.

Enid hummed, "Anyway, lunch is on its way over to him. He's still quite weak, so he'll need help eating, and getting to the bathroom," she said.

"Alright, I'll head over there now then," he replied, and Enid smiled before she headed off on her way again.

Daryl reached Paul's room after a few minutes and found the man sitting up in the bed. His hair had been pulled up into a bun by someone, probably be Enid, and the table had been moved so that it hovered over his lap.

"How's my favorite patient?" Daryl asked.

Paul's head turned to face him, and a grin spread over his lips, "Alright. Absolutely starving," he replied.

Daryl chuckled and stepped over to the bed, "Food's on its way. Let's get you to the bathroom first," he said and reached for Paul's arms and helped the man get up from the bed.

"Good, I need to pee," he said, and allowed Daryl to help him to the small bathroom that his room had; the two moving slowly and carefully with Daryl pulling Paul's IV along with them.

The food arrived just as the two of them exited the bathroom, and Daryl settled Paul back down in the bed as the nurse serving the food slid Paul's tray of food onto the table.

The meal was simple, some chicken and baked potatoes with some other veggies, a small cup of soup, and a mousse for dessert.

Daryl took the knife and fork and cut the chicken and baked potato into smaller pieces, and then looked to Paul, "You want to try?" he asked.

Paul nodded and took the fork, and very weakly placed a cube of chicken into his mouth. Paul continued to feed himself for a few minutes, but quickly grew exhausted as his arms weakened and Daryl did it for him instead.

"The police told you what happened?" Daryl asked as Paul chewed at a mouthful.

"It's come back to me mostly. I left the bar, saw a guy getting beat up by a group of others and intervened to protect him. One of them swiped at me when I had my back turned fighting another," Paul said.

Daryl chuckled lightly, "Had to play hero, huh?"

Paul smirked back, "Seemed like the right thing to do, even if it did bite me in the ass," he replied, "The guy who was getting beat up actually came and saw me this morning to thank me, a young kid who got in trouble with the wrong people," he said.

Daryl smiled gently and stabbed some chicken and potato onto the fork, "Well, you saved someone's life. That makes it worth it,"

"Yeah, I guess so,"

 

* * *

 

Paul was released from the hospital four days later, and Daryl came in just as the man was packing up his room.

"Hey," Daryl greeted him.

Paul smiled at him, "Hey. Maggie's picking me up soon, I'm staying at her place for a couple of days until I'm okay to be on my own," he explained.

Daryl nodded, "Good, that'll make it easier on you," he said.

Paul grinned at him and tucked some of his long hair behind his ear, "Are you sad that your favorite patient is leaving?" he asked.

Daryl smiled back, and nerves jumped in his stomach, "Well, I was kinda hopin' I'd get to see you again," he said.

Paul quirked an eyebrow at him, and his cheeks flushed a little, "Is that so?" he asked, and Daryl nodded, "Is this you asking me out on a date then?"

"Yeah, if you're interested,"

"Definitely interested," Paul immediately replied, and then was stepping closer to him as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos & comments are loved & inspire me to write more! x
> 
> Tumblr - iiloulouii


End file.
